Relative to non-Indigenous youth, Indigenous youth have been under-represented when studying pathways to mental wellness. Yet, a broad range of adversity is acknowledged, from intergenerational and ongoing trauma arising from colonial policies. This scoping review explores resilience definitions, measures, key stressors, and what Indigenous youth identify as pathways to their wellness, based on quantitative and qualitative peer-reviewed literature in Canada and the Continental United States. Eight databases (EBSCO, PsycINFO, Science Direct, Social Science Citation Index, Web of Science, PsycARTICLES, and EMBASE) and hand searches of 7 relevant journals were conducted to ensure literature coverage. Two independent reviewers screened each article, with one Indigenous screener per article. The final scoping review analysis included 44 articles. In articles, no Indigenous term for resilience was found, but related concepts were identified (“walking a good path,” “good mind,” Grandfathers’ teachings on 7 values, decision-making for 7 generations into the future, etc.). Few Indigenous-specific measures of resilience exist, with studies relying on Western measures of psychological resilience. Qualitative approaches supporting youth-led resilience definitions yielded important insights. Youth stressors included the following: substance use, family instability, and loss of cultural identity. Youth resilience strategies included the following: having a future orientation, cultural pride, learning from the natural world, and interacting with community members (e.g., relationship with Elders, being in community and on the land). Indigenous traditional knowledge and cultural continuity serve as prominent pathways to Indigenous youth resilience. More research is needed to yield a holistic, youth-centered measure of resilience that includes traditional practices.

Objective: To explore literature regarding youth with Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), their potential reactivity to research, and research trauma mitigation protocols. Methods: A systematic scoping review was conducted in APA PsychInfo, CINAHL, Embase, and OVID Medline. 2 reviewers screened each article for 12 eligible studies. Quantitative and qualitative studies measuring maltreatment and trauma research responses were eligible. Youth were defined as individuals aged 10-19. Results: No study utilized the ACEs questionnaire with research-related stress measures. Among those that included research reactivity measures, various forms of childhood and youth victimization were considered. The majority of participants did not report feeling upset, with many reporting benefits to participation. Information on protocols for managing distress was available for 11 studies, the most common being the provision of a resource helpsheet and/or referral system.  Implications: There is no indication of distress following ACEs-related research, with few studies measuring across the research experience. One study measured follow-up for distress and further action. Additional research may be indicated to assess the effectiveness of these protocols in this population with a follow-up assessment.

Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy (DR), the most common complication of diabetes, is characterized by vision loss due to vascular endothelial cell damage of the retina. Notably, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) therapy has shown promise in the regeneration of the retina after damage. A limitation of using these cells includes the risk of immune-rejection. The knockout of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins prevents a host immune response to non-native cells; however, HLA depletion introduces natural killer (NK) cell-mediated responses. Overexpression of cluster of differentiation 47 (CD47) inhibits the activity of NK cells. This project aims to create a universal DR patient-derived iPSC platform whose immunogenicity is limited through genetic alterations. Methods: iPSCs will be reprogrammed from DR patient-derived fibroblasts and CRISPR-Cas9 will be used to knock out HLA and overexpress CD47. Alterations will be validated through Sanger sequencing, Western Blot and Immunofluorescence (IF) analysis. DR patient-derived iPSCs will be differentiated into endothelial cells to mimic the DR afflicted endothelial cells. These differentiated cells will then be co-cultured with NK cells and a cytotoxicity assay will be performed. Specifically, a chromium-release assay will be used by loading radioactive chromium into the genetically modified and unmodified endothelial cells and the chromium released by dying cells was monitored. Results: Compared to the unmodified cells, we expect less NK-mediated cell death for the genetically altered endothelial cells. Discussion: Effectively limiting the immunogenicity of the donor-derived iPSCs can establish a universal platform for future studies in DR therapy. Conclusion: The resulting donor-derived iPSCs can be used to test drug therapies for DR or new methods to repair blood vessel damage, among a multitude of new research.